Nate Oats And Alabama Choke And Now I Am Contemplating If God Really Exists

Well fuck, there you have it folks: my bracket is officially busted. San Diego State took down Bama last night 71 - 64 and is now advancing to the Elite Eight. (This is the first time no No. 1 seeds have made it past the third round but that deserves a post of its own.) Now I'm no Hubie Brown but I do love my college basketball; I know upsets happen and I understand parity. But I also have common sense and if you are a top-2 team in March with unparalleled NBA talent, you should be winning. If not, you're a choke artist in my book.

It's starting to look like I chose a budding choke artist to win the chip because this is the SECOND year in a row that he's had a top-2 seed team and couldn't even make it past the Sweet 16. Nate Oats has literally been equipped with every asset a coach could dream of to build a championship team. He has a top-3 draft pick in Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney can easily go late first round. To not even make it to the Elite Eight with this team is just pitiful.

Now before I pose a question, let me give credit where credit is due. San Diego State deserved that dub. They were tougher, they looked hungrier, and when their star player (Matt Bradley) was slumping, other players came through and delivered. Bottom line, SD just flat out played better. Which leads me to my question. What on Earth was Nate Oats doing to prepare for this game? Was he simply unprepared with his head up his ass or is he vying for Reggie Miller's title of hugest choke artist in sports?

I mean shit, what did Alabama expect? For the Aztecs to start quaking in their boots when they saw the seeding and change up their gameplay? Because my little sister could tell you that was never gonna happen. They are a defense oriented team and they stuck to their roots, keeping a slow tempo and running the same defense they have for years. San Diego literally did nothing special. In fact, Bradley's performance was horrific. He was literal doggie poo for 35 minutes. The guy couldn't even hit the rim on mid-range jumpers. But he came through in the clutch and sent a river of tears down my face.

Now we get to Darrion Trammell, the former Seattle U stud that shattered my hopes and dreams and scored the first eight points of SDSU's big 12-0 run halfway through the second half. This dude hit his threes and converted a sweet layup after stealing the ball from Miller (who was held to nine points on 3-of-19 shooting) and that was EXPECTED of him. Trammell didn't appear out of thin air. He's one of their best starters, leading the WAC in scoring. There is PLENTY of tape out there. Maybe you don't believe me. Well what about Nathan Mensah who had me running out of fingers counting the number of shots he blocked (5)? Did Oats just not watch any goddam film on this team? That's what it looks like to me. I can't think of any other reason why Jahvon Quinerly would keep driving the rim only to get blocked. That's the definition of insanity trying something over and over expecting different results.

With all that said, the answer to the question of choke artist or unprepared dumbass lies somewhere in the middle. A little bit of both. I chalked up last year's loss to a team that just didn't have it's year and fell victim to the increasinly upset-filled nature of March Madness in recent years. But no no. Not again. Not all coaches may have Bill Belichick's ability to make poised and successful mid-game adjustments. And the disparity between middle and top tier teams isn't what it used to be in college basketball. But watching the game last night I just had to throw the question out there. Where in the world was Nate Oat's brain?